the ravages of time and neglect

 I've found where my Archives are listed and had a bit of fun going back to the beginnings, where I found this>



that's my flat (unit, apartment, whatever) downstairs on the right, see how the lush green lawn butts right up to the path and the edge of the porch and steps? September 2011



this is from Sunday just gone, how sad does that look? It's been like this for several years now. I tried watering the edges to encourage the runners to spread, but each time the maintenance men come around cutting (butchering) the lawns, they use a weedwhacker to trim those edges right back again. it's a losing battle. April 2022

I also found this>


my lounge room a couple of days after I moved in. It looks so different now. I have no idea why the walls are pink and pale green, something to do with the camera I guess, possibly reflected colour from those red blankets?  In real life, those walls are cream. I like the pink and green better.

The table on the right is now under the window, the low bookshelves are now in the tiny entrance and filled with books instead of dvds, the TV is now on the wall where that table is. The couch was replaced by a small black leather one from Ikea, and that has now been replaced by two leather recliner chairs. I really only need one, but bought two so anyone visiting (hah!) would have somewhere to sit. 

Well at least I'll still have one good chair if the one I always use wears out. 


this is the TV/DVD corner now, most of you have seen this before


and here you see the unused recliner chair, the red blanket down in the left corner is covering the back of the chair I use, handy for pulling over onto my lap when needed.


Comments

  1. Things look very neat and organized. Are you sure someone lives here?

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    1. Mike; I live here, with my cat. I like it organised, I can't live with chaos.

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  2. Sigh on the lawn. I do like your cosy living space though. A lot.

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    1. Elephant's Child; I'm sighing with you and wishing I had enough money to fix it. I like my living space too, but often wish for just one extra metre in both directions.

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  3. Seeing the photo of your flats reminded me of something you mentioned a while ago now ……do you still have trouble with the person upstairs?
    It must be difficult knowing one false step like slipping off the edge of the path could harm you, is there nobody you can speak to about it. OH&S of the tenants and owners responsibility should be uppermost in their minds.

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    1. Cathy; no, that person moved out about a year after Angel disappeared. I KNOW he had something to do with that, but couldn't prove anything. I was very glad when he left. I have a woman upstairs now, she's quiet enough, but does like to talk if she catches you outside.
      I don't worry about myself slipping off that path, it's wider than it looks and I don't use a walking aid of any kind (not yet anyway). It's government subsidised housing, and there's has been a lot of budget cuts over the years, so "housing" simply doesn't have the means to fix everything that isn't absolutely necessary. We all know how little the government cares about we poor people, right?

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  4. Once the grass disappears and the soil compacted, it is difficult to regrow grass without starting from anew. It's a real shame in your case. It is funny looking back at how your home used to be decorated and furnished, often with some surprise and even horror.

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    1. Andrew; I know getting any grass to grow back is going to be difficult, I may speak to my son in law about using some concrete to extend the porch a little with it sloping down to where the grass now is, if that would work. Or I could just leave it and when I eventually get carried out at age 100, housing will get it fixed up before someone new moves in. maybe.
      I was very surprised by that old photo to see the pink and green walls that were never there, the walls have always been cream, but it does look nice in the two tones.

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  5. Can you get "management" to replant the grass. Show them the evidence of maintenance mishandling.

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    1. Joanne; "management" is government, no chance at all there. the housing inspectors who come around for home visits, or home inspections, they see the damage, and they could report it as potentially unsafe, but would anything get done? I don't think so. As Andrew said, replanting the grass wouldn't work on such compacted soil, the whole section might have to be dug up and replaced and that would mean loads of topsoil and having to replace the watering system which is inefficient anyway.

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  6. Interesting about the former colors. The demarcation line with the pink is exact.
    I once took a face plant from a walk way like that. I was looking somewhere else and stepped off the pavement. All it takes is 4 inches to put you down. I think Joanne has a good idea.

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    1. Arkansas Patti; the former colours were never there, it's a trick of the light through the camera lens, probably reflected off the red blankets. The walls are cream and were cream when I moved in. I'm always careful coming or going along that path, it is wider than it looks and I'm a bit fat, but not huge, so I can see where my feet are stepping. I do make sure to walk down with other people who have visited me, so they don't trip either. I measured the drop at the steps end of the porch, it's 31cm, or about 13 inches. Less as the path slopes dwn through the grass.

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    2. A 13-inch drop - or even a 4-inch drop - is an accident waiting to happen. I sympathize and I'm glad you are careful.

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  7. That is quite a difference in your sidewalk! I like your "new" decor better than the "old." 11 years can really make a difference.

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    1. Val; I like the new better than the old too, but the chairs do take up a lot of space, so there's bad with the good.

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  8. Your flat looks quite cozy and inviting.

    It's so difficult to get grass to grow when it's abused the way you are talking about.

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    1. messymimi; thank you, it does get quite cosy in winter when the heater is on, the TV running and the cat is asleep on my lap. I'm in two minds about the grass, or possibly three minds. What to do? What to do?

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  9. It IS strange that the maintenance men insist on whacking back the grass so severely. Could you talk to them about not trimming there in order to let it get established? Would they cooperate? I like your cozy flat, though that picture with the half-green, half-pink walls is super-strange! LOL

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    1. Steve Reed; they are low paid people who aren't really gardeners and know nothing about plants. These are the same people that 'trim" the plants each year by cutting all shrubs off at waist level with a chain saw. Even roses, with no thought at all for shaping or cutting out deadwood, which I have done myself on occasion, but it's getting too much for me now.

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  10. I like your abode; you've made the most of the space and, as mentioned by other readers, it's very cozy looking.

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  11. I like colored walls :-) Maybe you should go at it! Especially with Autumn/Winter on the run?
    I have way too many DVDs, too. But I love them!
    Oh, is that an aircon up there? I have my microwave tiger on my lap, it´s cold...
    Thank you for sharing your place (someone was especially interested as he hopes... AHOI... to be there soon).

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